Unexpected items

Unexpected items

One of the key facts about the NHS pension reforms is hardly reported (Strike action looms after yes vote from Unison, 4 November). The government proposes to scrap the protected pension scheme now in place. Private companies that take over NHS services are currently obliged to offer equivalent pension schemes to the workers they take on. Removal of this obligation means private firms will be able to underbid in-house teams when the Lansley bill is enacted. There will not be a level playing field and it will be easier to break up and privatise the NHS.Chris MulletLondon

• Francis Maude says Unison's strike ballot showed "extremely limited" support. Some 78% said yes on a 29% turnout – 22.6% of the members. The Tories got 36% of the votes on a 65% turnout. That's 23.4% of the electors. Bob HughesWilloughby, Warwickshire

• Hannah Pool is right that African movies are greatly undervalued (The invisible continent, 4 November), but this isn't a new story. Africa has been making films since the 1930s, had movie golden ages in the 1970s and 80s, and Burkina Faso is one of the most cinephile countries in the world. As I argue in The Story of Film: An Odyssey, currently playing on TV, Africa has been crucial to film history for generations.Mark CousinsEdinburgh

• Be grateful for shop assistants, whatever they say (Letters, 3 November). In a few years, the only words you'll hear will be "unexpected item in bagging area".Toby SargentHayes, Kent

• I congratulate Paul on a brilliant subversive crossword (November 2). Where else but in the Guardian could one find a puzzle whose solutions included Berlusconi, Genitalia, Knicker Elastic, Nylons, Leggy, Tart, Moral Fibre, Monopoly and many more relevances – even a Geddit in case we had not? Next stop the Greeks?Nick GoulderLittlebury, Essex